UFC plans April return for Jones; Evans-Davis winner, Henderson still top options

UFC president Dana White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he’s currently working on Jones’ next outing, and both the champ and the promotion hope to book that sooner rather than later.

“Maybe April,” White said.

Jones, of course, fought most recently in December, downing former champion Lyoto Machida in impressive fashion and bringing to a close one of the most impressive calendar years in MMA history. After the fight, Jones expressed his desire to take a few months off. However, that plan has quickly changed.

“I think Jon Jones is 24 years old, and he went and sat around the house for three weeks and realized that he’d like to get back out there and get to work again, which I like, so it’s all good,” White said.

The leading candidate to face Jones is former teammate Rashad Evans, should he both defeat Phil Davis later this month and also emerge from the event unscathed.

“Obviously I’m going to keep my word to Rashad,” White said. “If Rashad comes out of this fight unscathed and healthy with a win, then we’ll see what happens.”

Davis, of course, could also leap to the front of the line with an especially impressive performance, but the general consensus is that a “Mr. Wonderful” win would allow 41-year-old veteran Dan Henderson to earn a shot at the belt.

Henderson, who in November earned a “Fight of the Year” candidate win over Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, recently made headlines by turning down a fight with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. Nevertheless, White said if he’s forced to consider a plan B, Henderson’s decision to turn down “Little Nog” doesn’t mean he won’t be considered for a title shot.

“That’s just the thing with me and Dan,” White said. “Dan is worried about Dan. Dan’s out for Dan, but it is what it is.

“But he didn’t mess his chances up. Just because he’s difficult and hard to work with doesn’t mean that he’s going to screw up his chances. I’ll bring him fights. If he doesn’t want to [expletive] fight him, he can sit out. It doesn’t matter to me.”

The UFC has yet to release its full spring lineup. Thus far, the lone event officially announced for April is UFC 146, which takes place at Philips Arena in Atlanta.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, including UFC 146, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.